The invention discloses a flexible plastic bag for cultivation of cells, including a top wall film and a bottom wall film, each having an inside and an outside, sealed to each other inside-to-inside by durable weld seams, optionally via one or more side wall films, to form a bag with an inner volume delimited by the durable weld seams; one or more ports through the top and/or bottom wall film for introduction and withdrawal of fluids; one or more frangible weld seams joining the insides of said top and bottom wall films, dividing the bag inner volume into a plurality of cultivation compartments; and one or more gripping means affixed to the top and bottom wall films, adjacent each of the frangible weld seams and adapted to break a specific frangible weld seam by pulling apart the gripping means on the top and bottom wall films.

Provided is a cell culture method including introducing a factor into cells in a cell culture vessel, and culturing the cells into which the factor has been introduced in the same cell culture vessel. Also provided is a mononuclear cell collection method including treating blood to prepare a treated blood from which erythrocytes have been at least partially removed, diluting the treated blood, causing sedimentation of mononuclear cells contained in the diluted treated blood, removing the supernatant from the diluted treated blood, and collecting the mononuclear cells.

Provided is an erythrocyte removal device 100 including a blood container 10 that holds blood and an erythrocyte removal vessel 11 that at least partially removes erythrocytes from blood.

Photoreceptor scaffolds and scaffold systems including the photoreceptor scaffolds are described herein. The scaffolds and scaffold systems can be used for transplantation of organized photoreceptor tissue, with or without RPE, which may improve grafted cell survival, integration, and functional visual rescue. Particularly, the photoreceptor scaffold is structured from a biocompatible film, patterned with an array of unique through-holes having a curvilinear cell receiver and at least one cell guide channel.

A container system includes a flexible bag bounding a chamber. A probe port includes an elongated tubular member having an interior surface bounding a first passageway and extending between a first end and an opposing second end, the first passageway being closed at the first end and open at the second end; and a flange encircling and radially outwardly projecting from the tubular member at or toward the second end thereof, the flange being secured to the flexible bag so that the first end of the elongated tubular member projects into the chamber of the flexible bag while the open second end of the elongated tubular member is accessible from outside of the flexible bag. A probe is received within the first passageway of the probe port.

A consumable container for filling with a fluid in a bioprocessing process. The container comprises one or more sealable, removable portions, such that one or more samples of the fluid may be taken by sealing and removing one or more of said portions.

A system for receiving a single-use vessel containing a mixing device has a support structure adapted to receive the single-use vessel and a drive-unit adapted to power, to control, or to power and control a mixing of contents of the single-use vessel when the single-use vessel is arranged in the support structure. The support structure and the drive-unit are provided as separate components that may be arranged both in an operating position, where the drive-unit is connectable to the mixing device of the single-use bag in the support structure, and in a separated position, where the drive-unit is separated from the support structure. The drive-unit comprises a tag reader that, in the operating position, is arranged to read a vessel tag of the single-use vessel arranged in the support structure.

An object of the present invention is to provide a transportation instrument and a transportation method that enable transportation by using a cell culture container as it is. Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a transportation instrument and a transportation method that enable supply of oxygen required for respiration of cells. Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a transportation instrument and a transportation method that enable suppression of migration of a culture medium into and out of cells caused by the influence of an increase in internal pressure with respect to the temperature during transportation. According to the present invention, provided is a cell preservation or transportation instrument including a plurality of cell storage containers, a plate which has a plurality of recesses for holding the plurality of cell storage containers therein, and a flexible material sheet which seals upper opening portions of the plurality of cell storage containers and upper side wall portions formed by side walls of the recesses of the plate and allows ventilation between an inside and an outside of the plurality of cell storage containers.

A bioreactor vessel has an optical foam sensor (36) with a foam contact surface for contacting the foam to be detected. The foam contact surface is an inner side of a window (38) transparent to light from the visible and ultraviolet spectral range in an outer wall of the bioreactor vessel (10). An outer side of the window (38) is coupled to an illumination and detection unit (52) with at least one first light source (56) of visible light and at least one photodetector (58) to detect light from the first light source (56) that is reflected in the bioreactor vessel (10). The foam contact surface has a titanium dioxide coating (44) superhydrophilizable by photoactivation with ultraviolet light and the illumination and detection unit (52) has at least one second light source (66) of ultraviolet light.

The invention relates to a separator for retaining and recirculating cells in a continuous-flow or batch-flow type plastic bag or bottle, which can preferably be operated outside of a bioreactor. Additionally, the invention relates to a method for retaining and recirculating cells within or outside a bioreactor. The invention further relates to a method for producing the separator according to the invention.